‘Stranger Things’ Star Maya Hawke Floored the Duffer Brothers From the Beginning: ‘She Felt like One-in-a-Million’
The Duffer Brothers “A young Janeane Garofalo.” That’s how we originally pitched the character of Robin in “Stranger Things.” But that’s about all we had. Well, that and two short scenes where Robin hands out ice cream with Steve Harrington. We just didn’t really know who Robin was — what made her interesting, what made her stand out. That is, until our casting director, Carmen Cuba, gave us the three-word answer: “She’s Maya Hawke.” “Who?” we asked. “Just … trust me,” she said. Fast-forward six months, and we’re shooting in that ice cream shop, and Maya pulls us aside and asks, “So … are you guys basically just writing … me?” We had to laugh, because the answer was, “Well, kinda, yeah!” Because the thing about Maya? She’s much more interesting than any original character we could ever make up. She’s hilarious, she’s whip-smart, she’s very honest and real, and she’s just awesomely weird, her energy some mix between a playful, excited teenager and a wizened Hollywood actor who’s seen it all. She is just so uniquely Maya, and we became obsessed with capturing her essence and putting it out into the world, because she felt like one-in-a-million. (Although we’re sure Maya would like us to add that, unlike the character of Robin, she’s not a weird runner. She runs like a regular human, thank you very much.)